Water Level Measurement And Detection Of Flow Direction Using Image Processing

Water level measurement is one of the hydraulic study necessities especially in lab researches. In most common methods, waterlevel is directly measured. It is also important to measure reservoirs water level in research related with water depth. There arevarietiesof ways for water level measurement compatible with different situations with some structural or financial disadvantages. For instance ultrasonic sensors are very accurate. However,it is often very costly to purchase these sensors. The purposeof this project is to represent a new method of water level measurement using image processing. For removing some limitations of devices invented previously according to requirements of different experiences, we commenced building an affordable device forwater measurement. The device operation is based on an image processing program written on MATLAB. High Definationwebcam takes pictures needed for image processing from a built in stand connected to a main reservoir

Biological, antigenic and phylogenetic characterization of the flavivirus Alfuy

Alfuy virus (ALFV) is classified as a subtype of the flavivirus Murray Valley encephalitis virus (MVEV); however, despite preliminary reports of antigenic and ecological similarities with MVEV, ALFV has not been associated with human disease. Here, it was shown that ALFV is at least 10(4)-fold less neuroinvasive than MVEV after peripheral inoculation of 3-week-old Swiss outbred mice, but ALFV demonstrates similar neurovirulence. In addition, it was shown that ALFV is partially attenuated in mice that are deficient in alpha/beta interferon responses, in contrast to MVEV which is uniformly lethal in these mice. To assess the antigenic relationship between these viruses, a panel of monoclonal antibodies was tested for the ability to bind to ALFV and MVEV in ELISA. Although the majority of monoclonal antibodies recognized both viruses, confirming their antigenic similarity, several discriminating antibodies were identified. Finally, the entire genome of the prototype strain of ALFV (MRM3929) was sequenced and phylogenetically analysed. Nucleotide (73 %) and amino acid sequence (83 %) identity between ALFV and MVEV confirmed previous reports of their close relationship. Several nucleotide and amino acid deletions and/or substitutions with putative functional significance were identified in ALFV, including the abolition of a conserved glycosylation site in the envelope protein and the deletion of the terminal dinucleotide 5'-CU(OH)-3' found in all other members of the genus. These findings confirm previous reports that ALFV is closely related to MVEV, but also highlights significant antigenic, genetic and phenotypic divergence from MVEV. Accordingly, the data suggest that ALFV is a distinct species within the serogroup Japanese encephalitis virus

Independent impact of plasma homocysteine levels on neurological outcome following head injury

Homocysteine (tHcy) has been hardly studied among patients with head injury. This study was to evaluate whether there is any independent impact of tHcy levels on neurological outcome following head injury in a multivariate model. Patients admitted within 24 h of injury were included in the study, along with 20 age- and gender-matched controls. Plasma levels of tHcy were measured at admission using direct immunoassay. All the variables were analyzed with respect to tHcy levels and outcome according to Glasgow Outcome Score (GOS) at 3 months. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed using SPSS 21. There were a total of 72 patients in the study. tHcy levels were significantly higher after head injury (mean 24.03[SD ± 16.0] μmol/L), compared to matched controls (mean 16.62 [SD ± 10.4] μmol/L) (p = 0.05). Patients with severe head injury, acute SDH, or diffuse higher radiological grades had greater levels of tHcy compared to others. There was a significant relationship between tHcy level and neurological outcome. tHcy levels were significantly higher in patients who had unfavorable GOS (mean 36.22[±25.3] μmol/L), compared to those with favorable GOS (mean 22.71[±14.3] μmol/L) (P = 0.03). In multivariate analysis, tHcy level (adj. odds ratio [OR] 1.17, P = 0.05) and Glasgow Coma Scale (adj. OR 5.17, P = 0.01) had significant association with neurological outcome at 3 months independent of age, dietary habit, radiological grading and of each other. tHcy level has significant independent impact on neurological outcome and may be useful as a prognostic marker following head injury